Selling to decision makers - sales leader of influence - bernadette mcclelland

Selling to Decision Makers™

A Profitability and Market Prominence capability for sales leaders and teams who must influence executive decisions, not just generate activity.

The Commercial Context Has Shifted

Most sales leaders already know how to sell.
They’ve carried quota, built teams, and delivered results.

What’s changed isn’t capability.
It’s how decisions now get made.

  • Teams are more distributed, which has reduced alignment and slowed momentum.
  • AI and automation have raised the bar on commercial precision.
  • Talent turnover has increased cost and disrupted continuity.
  • Boards are pushing for faster outcomes with far less tolerance for risk.
  • And buyers are taking longer to decide – while asking harder questions.

These aren’t people problems.
They’re decision problems.

Revenue now moves – or stalls – based on how clearly leaders and teams can connect deals to executive priorities and decision criteria

Where Deals Continue To Stall and Sellers Continue To Get Stuck

Most sales conversations still sell from the bottom up.

They gain traction with users, managers, and internal influencers – but fail to secure early alignment at executive level.

The consequences are consistent:

  • Executive conversations happen too late

  • Commercial cases remain tactical rather than strategic

  • Proposals lack alignment to board-level priorities

  • Forecasts remain overly inaccurate despite strong activity

Teams remain busy.
Decisions do not move.

This is not a selling skill gap.
It is an influence gap at the level where decisions are funded.

What Executives Actually Fund

Senior decision-makers approve initiatives when they see clear movement on a small set of priorities:

  • Revenue growth with protected margins

  • Increased speed, productivity, and delivery confidence

  • Reduction of operational, financial, and reputational risk

  • Strengthened credibility with customers, boards, and markets

If a commercial narrative does not explicitly connect to one or more of these drivers, it does not get funded.

This is not about persuasion.
It is about alignment to executive decision criteria.

Selling to Decision Makers™
The Profitability & Prominance capability

 

Selling to Decision Makers™ is a commercial influence discipline applied by sales leaders and teams to shape decisions where budgets, priorities, and direction are set.

It governs how commercial conversations are framed, progressed, and anchored at executive level – long before proposals are submitted.

This capability enables leaders and teams to:

  • Position commercial conversations in terms executives recognise as strategic

  • Connect solutions to enterprise priorities already under scrutiny

  • Surface the cost of inaction in financial, operational, and reputational terms

  • Create traction at senior levels where direction and funding are determined

  • Present thought leadership insights in the most creative and compelling way to serve the company and the market

The shift is simple but material:
from selling activityinfluencing decisions.

THE Q4 DECISION DISCIPLINE

Revised q4

The Q4 Decision Discipline

 Query · Quantify · Qualify · Quota

Q4 governs how leaders and teams move decisions forward at executive level.

  • Query – Surface the strategic tension the organisation must resolve with the ultimate AI Query – Your Market Mover Validation Framework.

  • Quantify – Anchor decisions to financial, operational, and risk metrics.

  • Qualify – Confirm executive ownership, urgency, and consequence.

  • Quota – Secure directional commitment before and during commercial negotiation.

Applied consistently, Q4 reduces late-stage deal stalls and losses, accelerates deal velocity, and stabilizes forecasting.

Selling to Decision Makers™ is a core Profitability & Market Prominence capability within the Sales Leader of Influence Method™.

It supports leaders and teams operating at the point where commercial execution must translate into executive confidence, funding, and direction.

Each Selling to Decision Makers™ engagement includes:

  • Access to the online component of Selling to Decision Makers
  • CoachSellaAI™ (a GPT designed to apply the Q4 Decision Discipline in live deals so the seller has an on-demand coach for the complete tenure of the program)
  • The Market Mover Validation Framework (per person fee to validate each ICP’s markets to align to the T4 model within the Selling to Decision Makers framework) and enable sellers to expand their influence, elevate their conviction, get their foot in the door easier and turn those doors into dollars faster.

What Clients Say About Working With Bernadette

“This work fundamentally changed how I approach senior decision-makers. I left with practical frameworks that improved deal quality and executive traction immediately.”

Nick Pruitt, Account Director

“Bernadette helped our team reframe how we communicate ROI at executive level. Learning & Development shifted from a cost centre conversation to a revenue-driven discussion, supported by clear, quantifiable outcomes.

Matthew Murawski, Senior Vice President

What's Included In Your Experience of Selling To Decision Makers™

✅ Twelve months access to the Selling to Decision Makers™ digital deployment platform

✅ Immediate access to practical tools and models for use with live deals

✅ All frameworks, templates, and AI prompts used inside the Method

✅ The complete Q4 Decision Discipline, including proprietary tools for qualification, quantification, and forecasting confidence

✅ Leadership accountability tracker to measure influence, not activity

This is not theory.
These assets are designed to be applied immediately with prospects, buyers, and internal stakeholders.

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Next Step…

Sales leader of influence revenue and role clarity system pipeline predictability forecast accuracy bernadette mcclelland 2025

The Decision Point!

Every deal either stalls below the decision line — or advances where budgets and direction are set.

Selling to Decision Makers™ equips leaders and teams to operate at that level consistently.

👉Request a Leadership Standards Review →
A structured conversation to assess decision influence, deal progression, and fit.